Middle
Names

You've got the first name
down. that's no problem. But what about a middle? Katinka Rose is beautiful,
but what about Katinka Anne? Katinka Marie?

Many people don't give
middle names much thought, that's why, if you're female, you're middle
name is probably Ann, Lynn, or Marie. That's also why most of your friends
also have the middle names Ann, Lynn or Marie. Name connoisseurs call
them "filler" names, or "throw-away" names because they seem to be just
that- a pretty sounding name that doesn't have much substance that acts
as a 'bridge' from the first name to the last name. People commonly use
the following rationales when choosing a middle name:

When do you ever
use a middle name anyway? Don't you only use it when you're angry? (i.e.
"Jennifer Ann Schmidt! You get in here *NOW*!")

Yes, it's true that middle names seldom get used. However, this is precisely
why you shouldn't use a boring middle name. For example, if you've always
loved uncle Rupert (but never really liked his name), why not
put it in the middle position? Who's going to ever know?

When my daughter
gets married, she'll lose her middle name anyway.

This just isn't
true anymore. More and more women are keeping their maiden names when
they marry. Many choose to hyphenate their last names. A good middle
name may inspire her to keep a maiden name!

Try to break out of
these rationales!

Choose a name that has
meaning to you, or that you absolutely love. Don't just throw in John or
Ann because it sounds nice with Michael or Brittany. Perhaps your maiden
name, or the name of a special friend, relative, or other person whom you
admire would make a good middle name. If you're wary of weird names, and
don't want to saddle your child with a unique first name, then maybe the
middle name is the place to be creative! And also, if you select a more
common first name, a creative middle name will make your Little Michael
or Ashley stand out from the crowd more.

Consider this:
I went to high school with Michele Smith and Michelle Smith. There was
also a Michelle Murphy and a Michelle Adams. Both Michelle Smiths and
Michelle Murphy had the middle name Marie (Michelle Adams's middle name
was Ann, just like Michelle Fabrizio's in the grade ahead). The Smiths
were really stuck! They were known all throughout their school days as
Michele-with-one-L Smith and Michelle-with-two-Ls Smith. Needless to say,
they were pretty sick of the whole thing by the time they graduated. The
two Robert Johnsons and two Mike Allens fared much better, just being
known as Robert Michael Johnson and Robert Verne Johnson. (the Mike Allens
were so different in stature that they were forever "Big Mike Allen" and
"Little Mike Allen").

So why do so
many girls have middle names Ann and Marie?

The answer to this is simple:
It's all about rhythm. Ann sounds good with just about any name. Ditto for
Marie, Lynn, and their friends Louise, Elizabeth, Lee/Leigh, Jo and Beth.
For more discussion on rhythm, click here. Most
first and last names are two-syllable, accented on the 1st syllable. In
fact, according to The Babyzone's Top
names of 1988, 43% of girls' names were 2 syllables, accented on the first
(i.e. Megan, Emma, Kayla, Ashley etc.). Of the remaining 57%, 20% were accented
on the first syllable.

With so many first
names accented on the 1st syllable, a short middle name like Ann sounds
nice. Which sounds more melodic? Megan Sarah Taylor or Megan Ann Taylor?
Most people would say Megan Ann, because it breaks the 2-syllable
monotony more than Megan Sarah. Names with the same number of syllables
and the same stress tend to sound sing-songy.

Marie is another
popular choice for a middle name. Marie's popularity can stem from the
fast that it is accented on the 2nd syllable, which makes it break up
the 1st syllable stress as well. Which sounds nicer? Megan Marie Taylor
or Megan Sarah Taylor? Most would say Megan Marie, because having
the accent on the 2nd syllable (unlike Megan), it breaks up the sing-songy-ness.

Middle names for boys
are a bit of a different story. While there is a certain stock of middle
names for girls, there isn't the same thing for boys. The most popular
middle names for boys are fairly similar to the most popular first names.
Consider the following top 10 name chart. The numbers in parentheses indicate
the position the name holds on the first name chart for the same
year. A "0" indicates that it doesn't even place on the chart. 64%
of the boys' middle names are also popular enough to be on the boys' first
name list. Compare this with only 25% of the girls' middle names.

Beware of the 90s Filler
Names!

In the 90s, parents have
wised up a little bit. They're branching out from Anne and Lynn. however,
what have they done? They've created a whole new set of 'filler' names!
The following list of names may sound fresh and new to you now, but they're
being used a lot these days. Remember, today's Emily Rose and Hannah Grace
will probably be tomorrow's Jennifer Lynn and Michelle Ann!

Rose

Nicole

Grace

Claire

and to some extent (but
aren't quite as popular):

Noelle

Faith

Hope

Joy

but My middle Name
Is Ann! And So is My mother's! And grandmother's!

So it's a family tradition
to use Ann, Marie and friends. Here are other forms of common names you
could use to carry on the tradition.

Instead
of:

try

Ann(e)

Anne,
Annika, Annelise, Annabel, Annette, Anita, Anais,or a name that ends
in -ann, such as Marianne, Vivianne etc.

Lynn(e)

Linnea,
Linda, Lynnette, Linnell, Linnet, Melinda, Belinda, or a name that
ends in -lyn, such as Madelyn, Evelyn etc.

Or, if you just want
ideas of names that sound nice, here are some more names you could use.
The following lists are divided by number of syllables and syllable stressed.

1-Syllable Names (the Anns, Waynes and Lynns of Tomorrow)

Girls

Boys

Either

Belle

Beau/Bo

Ashe

Bess

Berg

Blaine

Bette

Birch

Dai

Blanche

Blade

Dale

Bliss

Blaise/Blaze

Dane/Dayne

Blythe/Blithe

Bond

Day

Brie

Bram

Drew

Brynn

Bran

Jay(e)

Cai

Brant

Kai/Cai

Cass

Brent

Lane/Layne

Elle

Brock

Lore

Eve

Bruce

Sage

Fawn

Bryce

Storm

Faye

Burke

Tao

Fern

Cain

Teale

Fleur

Carl

True

Gail/Gayle/Gael

Clay

Tyne

Greer

Clive

Gwen/Gwynne

Clyde

Hope

Cole

Jill

Dean

Joy

Jett

June

Judd

Lark

Jude

Lise

Kerr

Love

Laird

Maeve

Lars

Pearl

Leaf/Leif

Rain

Lear/Lir

Rue

Lorne

Ruth

Luke

Snow

Mark

Starr

Miles/Myles

Wren

Neal/Neil

Wynne

Noel

Pierce

Reece/Rhys

Ross

Shale

Zane

Zev

2-syllable iambic
middle names (the Next Generation's Nicoles and Maries)

Adair

Adele

Aileen

Brianne

Brielle

Brienne

Brigitte

Camille

Carine

Celeste

Cerise

Chantal

Charlene

Cherise

Cheyenne

Ciel

Clarisse

Colette

Corinne

Cybelle

Danae

Denise

Eileen

Elise

Estelle

Gisel(l)e

Ianthe

Janae

Janelle

Jaylene

Jeannette

Joanne

Joelle

Justine

Kathleen

Katrine

Laurine

Leanne

Lisette

Lorraine

Lourdes

Lucille

Lynnette

Martine

Maureen

Maxine

Milan

Mireille

Monet

Monique

Nadine

Patrice

Pauline

Rachelle

Raquel

Rochelle

Roxanne

Sarai

Selene/Celine

Simone

Sinead

Siobhan

Solange

Solenne

Suzanne

Suzette

Yasmeen

Yvette

Yvonne

3+ Syllable names
that don't end in A, and are not stressed on the first syllable
(the Next Generation's Elizabeths)

Phew! That's a
long title! These names sound fancier than they really are. They are
meant for with 2-syllable names ending in A. For example, Kayla
Angelique, Emma Leilani, Sarah Felicity, etc. Since a lot of 2+
syllable names end in 'a' (Amelia, Amanda, Alyssa etc.), I though
it would be nice to include some names that didn't.

Alanis

Alizé

Amari

Amaris

Anais

Angelique

Annemarie

Antoinette

Araceli

Arianne

Arielle

Ashanti

Bernadette

Briallen

Christiane

Damaris

Delaney

Dolores

Dominique

Eleni

Eleri

Eliane

Estefani

Felicity

Gabrielle

Guadelupe

Imani

Julianne

Juliet

Katriel

Leilani

Liliane

Loreto

Marielle

Mercedes

Naomi

Nicolette

Nicoline

Oriane

Rhiannon

Rosario

Rosemarie

Serenity

Vivianne

3+ Syllable Names
that End in A

Not every first
name ends in A. Sometimes a longer name ending in A can be nice with
a shorter name. For example, Brooke Amanda, Taylor Marissa
and Megan Calista.

Acacia

Adriana

Aida

Aisha

Alanna

Alexandra

Aliya/Aaliyah

Allegra

Alondra

Amanda

Amelia

Amina

Amira

Angelica

Angelina

Anissa

Antonia

Ariana

Athena

Aurora

Ayana

Belinda

Bianca

Calista

Carissa

Cassandra

Clarissa

Dafinah

Delilah

Diana

Elena

Eliza

Fiona

Gabriel(l)a

Geneva

Isabella

Juliana

Katrina

Kiana

Larissa

Liana

Liliana

Linnea

Louisa

Marcela

Mariah

Marissa

Melina

Melinda

Miranda

Montana

Natalia

Natasha

Nikita

Rebecca/Rebekah

Samara

Savannah

Selena

Serena

Siena

Sophia

Susannah

Tanisha

Tatiana

Teresa

Vanessa

Xiomara

3+ syllable Names
that are Stressed on the 1st Syllable and Don't end in A

OK, you're thinking
"haven't we had enough yet?" Maybe so, but if you have a name that's
stressed on the 2nd syllable, sometimes it's nice to have a middle
name that's long, but stressed on the first. Nicole Addison, Tanisha
Amity, and Victoria Abigail are some examples.

Abigail

Addison

Adeline

Adrienne/Adrianne

Al(l)ison

Amelie

Amity

Angeline

Annabel

Annelise

Augustine

Beatrice

Beatrix

Bethany

Cameron

Caroline

Cassidy

Charity

Desiree

Destiny

Ebony

Emerson

Emmeline

Eveline

Evelyn

Genesis

Genevieve

Gillian

Gwendolen

Hil(l)ary

Ireland

Isabelle

Jacqueline

Jocelyn

Josephine

Kennedy

Liberty

Lillian

Mallory

Margaret

Maribel

Mariel

Maryam

Melanie

Melody

Meredith

Miriam

Natalie

Rosalie

Rosalind

Rosaline

Rosamund

Rosemary

Sheridan

Stephanie

Trinity

Valerie

Verity

Vivian

Middle Names
For Boys

Finding rhythmically
nice middle names for boys is tricky. Most boys'; names follow our
faithful two-syllable, first-syllable stressed pattern (as in Brandon,
Austin, Michael, Jacob etc.), so it's actually difficult to come up
with nice boys' names with 3 or more syllables (there are lots of
really odd ones out there, like Hercules, Abelard, Ethelbert and Adonis,
but I didn't include those!). However, here is a list of some 3+ syllable
names that we thought were plausible!